Core i7, i5 & i3 LGA1156 Processors Thread: Clarkdale Supports HD Audio Bitstreaming! - Page 120

Some of the mainboards are known for being unable to bitstream hd audio.

Sandy Bridge review just went live. Hope is answers your questions, LMK if it doesn't.

Just finished reading through, once again excellent review. Now that I have a 3D TV I would like to look closer at upgrading my current core i5 Clarkdale mini-ITX HTPC as the 3D BluRay player just takes up more space then I want. I have never used the 23.976 feature so the fact that it appears to still be an issue with SB is not a concern (now that my TV supports 23.976 I may look closer at but only if it requires zero user intervention to switch back and forth properly).

Thanks. If you're in the market for a 3D HTPC the experience is much better with SNB.

We need to keep hammering ArcSoft and Cyberlink on automatically changing. The feature gap v. standalone hw is inexcusable.

If you care about 3D then you will also care about proper 24p support to go along with it. At least on my Samsung display, it only specifies sources for 3D can be 1080p24 or 720p60 (per eye). I don't know if there are any HDMI chipsets out that can handle 1080p60 per eye--that's one fast clock!

Interesting. Ideally I want to stay away from a dGPU for my mini-ITX build which is the reason I went with the Clarkdale.

TMT doesn't support automatic switching, so what happens if someone currently does not switch to 23.976 before playing a 3D BluRay (using an ATI 6xxx or NVidia)?

The players automatically switch to 3D mode for 3D BD playback, just not for 2D (which means they know how to do it).

Interesting, so of course that begs the question, why is it not fixed for 2D?!?!?!

EXACTLY! At this point it really is inexcusable.

Thanks for the review and sorry for missing your review before pasting in the Anandtech link last night.

Does this 'fix' help the 60hz issue as well? As far as I know, the graphics also screwed up 60hz so it's not 59.94. Is that correct?

Thanks,
Chris

Yes. There are several screenshots in the 24p gallery including 29.97 and 59.94 at 59Hz.

babgvant,

Thanks for noting the simultaneous output of the dvi/hdmi.

It is worth noting is that with an appropriate DVI-to-HDMI adapter the DVI port can also function as an HDMI 1.4 port, so the DH67BL is capable of utilizing two HDMI cables to provide HDMI 1.4 to a display and HDMI 1.3 to an audio video receiver (AVR) simultaneously for those who wish to enjoy a 3D BD and lossless audio but do not have an HDMI 1.4 compatible AVR.

Excellent point.

I don't have an HDMI 1.4 AVR so it was the first or second thing I tested

There are going to be H67 ITX boards available from several manufacturers including Gigabyte, MSI, Foxconn, Asus, ASRock as well as those already mentioned. Plenty for us to choose from this time around!

I suspect that, again, the lowest power consuming boards will come from Intel, ECS and MSI. You should already be able to find pictures and/or specs for all of these boards by doing an online search. I'm waiting to upgrade to i2500k and ditch my video card as well this time around, reducing my overall power consumption yet again...

Also interested in those new LG TVs that will be capable of running Plex Media Center clients without an STB... Yet more space and power potentially saved for some... Great to pull media from the main server/HTPC into another room with a nice and functional front-end--minus an extender (Plex Server for Windows is in the works)... It's going to be another killer year for HTPC media enthusiasts.

so is it worth getting the new cpu and motherboard just for the 24fps issue.. ?

also what software were you using to show the stats in red like that while the movie was playing.. that was pretty sweet.

Not unless a little judder really bothers you. Even then, adding an AMD GPU would be a lot cheaper.


MPC-HC, press control + j to turn on the stats.

thanks so much for the quick reply!!

the judder does bother me. last year when i was buying this tv and my blu ray players AND my receivers, i went through 2 receivers before i was satisfied that my tv was receiving the true 24fps. at that time it wasnt a given and several entry level receivers, that did not specificially say they supported 24fps DID not support it.

i got a ati 5400 series card and coudlnt even get it to play a regular dvd on a windows xp set up. did not try it on the 7even box. i guess i should have.

i really thought the clarksdale was the end solution since i could do audio and video with no extra power, noise associated with video card and conflict with sound card.

then i found out about the 24hz issue and then the fake 24hz setting (23hz) i think from your website ( missingremote.com )

sigh. i am simply refusing to buy an ati or nvidia card at this point. but i am still pretty upset that intel is not fixing the 24hz issue. anandtech seemed to go into it in further detail that your review, unless i missed it.

24p is discussed at the end.

The main difference b/w that part of our reviews is that I didn't discuss the root cause, but provided a workaround that gets 23.973 (23.976 is not available because of the HW issue Anand mentioned).

It's not perfect but 1 frame drop every 4 minutes isn't that noticeable.

i went back and reread that.. good job to you guys for finding that out.. from what i read you guys are still holding out that there might be some more adjustments in the drivers to eliminate or reduce this issue further?

on a second note we shouldnt have to be as smart as you guys to get 24fps when it has been standard forever and a day.. lol

which mpc-hc version? i just tried it on the cccp version that i downloaded and it didnt work..

DL it from here: http://www.xvidvideo.ru/media-player...inema-x86-x64/

I usually go with the latest stable release. The builds on xvid.ru are SVN builds which aren't always ready for general consumption.

I have a Biostar MB and MEI won't install for me either (same message), however, I bitstream just fine to a Pioneer Elite with my BD and HD DVD rips. You don't need MEI for this MB.

I'm looking at your screenshots and nothing sticks out yet.. I'll review my settings to see what's different.

Do you know what the MB model # is inside the ECO?

Thanks,

David

So here's a question. If the closer to 23.976 H67 workaround is in software. Is it also going to be available on the older Clarkdale h55 based systems?

I have not been able to reproduce 23.973 on Clarkdale.

I posted this problem on the Intel forums.. no help. Thought I'd ask here...

I am running Windows 7 Pro 32bit OS. I use "clone mode" to drive 2 TVs. TV #1 is HDMI-HDMI. TV #2 is DVI-HDMI. Both TVs are 1080P native displays. I "share" my HTPC between 2 rooms. Audio is via optical to both rooms.

I always get horizontal tearing on the 2nd display device. It doesn't matter which TV is selected as the Primary display, the tearing is only on the 2nd display. I only watch one TV at a time (front room or bedroom).

I am using the latest Intel drivers (2266). I have tried older drivers with no change. I have also tried other video out combinations... VGA and HDMI, and now the HDMI and DVI-HDMI. I am using an Asus P7H55D-M EVO motherboard with 4GB RAM. I have all Windows updates and the latest Intel MEI driver installed. I am running 1920x1080 @ 60 (I have tried 30, 59, etc.).

Most of what I watch, are Blu-ray rips at 23.976 FPS. But TV recordings also exhibit this behavior. BTW, BD rips play nicely using the 24Hz setting (on the "Primary" display with the latest drivers). Currently, I have to exit Media Center and change the display order when I switch rooms...

Any ideas?

Thanks